Many years ago I was working on a project which had fallen behind schedule. Actually the scheduling problem started in May, and continued up until Christmas. I had planed a family reunion in England for Christmas, and was very excited, since I hadnot spent Christmas with my family for five years. The day of my flight I was in the office trying to make some more progress, and was called into the office with the five most senior managers of the company. I was told I had to cancel my vacation. Somewhat nervously I asked what happened if I did not cancel my trip, and was told I would be terminated. (Visions of being shot on the spot arouse in my mind!) I had been horrendously unhappy there for some time, so after a few breathless moments managed to squeak that I would therefore have to resign.

The managers tried to persuade me to think about it, and after a cup of coffee and advice from a co worker I suggested a compromise. I would shorted the trip to around a week. The CEO commented this was not the kind of commitment they required from their people, and asked how this effected my green card processing. (Something they had been using to threaten me with for some time.) With great glee I was able to reply that I had just received my green card 1 week before!

So I left for England, showed up at the airport and informed my Dad I was no longer employed and was going to stay for a bit longer. (Much to his horror.) I had a wonderful trip, and found a job when I returned 3 weeks later. As a parting shot, I found out the company spoke to the INS and tried to get me deported, they also threaten a co worker with termination if he gave me a reference.

So a horror story with a happy ending for a change! Hope this wins me a t-shirt!